Canada or Bust

This past weekend my family drove up to Canada for a family reunion. Every 2 years we have a reunion with my dad's side of the family. It's a great time to catch up with cousins that we obviously haven't seen in a few years. It's really amazing how big our family is!

My dad has 10 brothers and sisters and most of them had about 5+ kids and now we adding the grandbabies to the mix. Here is a an estimated list of how many cousins I have and now 2nd cousins. I say estimated because it's obviously only that, with 63 cousins it's hard to keep track of their breeding. LOL.

Dad - 6 kids & 3 step kids. 2 Grandkids and 2 Step grandkids
Pam - 6 kids. 6 Grandkids
Val - 6 kids. 11 Grandkids
Lavar - 3 kids. 7 Grandkids and one of the way
Bryce - 4 kids. 10 Grandkids
Reed - 4 kids. 5 Grandkids
Charyln - 6 kids. 3 Grandkids
Greg - 5 kids & 6 step kids. No grandkids
Gary - 5 kids. No grandkids
Marvin - 5 kids. No grandkids
Andrea - 4 kids. No grandkids

So that makes 63 Cousins and 46 2nd Cousins (counting Zack). And this number isn't couting spouses either!

Obviously not all the cousins and second cousins made it to the reunion, but there was a good portion that did. It was so much fun hanging out with them. I just wish that the reunion was a day or two longer.

We arrived at my uncle Reeds house about 1:00 am on Thursday. We quickly got all of our stuff into the house and went to bed. It was a long drive!

Thursday day we met up with Jeanette, Deanna and Christopher to hang out. We went to Waterton in Alberta for a little bit of the day with a couple of other cousins. It was a really cute area. It's a town in the mountains bordering a very cold lake! We walked around for a little while, petted a deer or two. Then drove a short distance to a waterfall. There we hiked a short trail to the top of the waterfall. After that we drove to Red Rock Canyon where we saw a bear! It was pretty cool! It was a little bit away but I was able to snap a picture before it disappeared. We then hiked a little further to another waterfall. It was a nice walk other then the fact that Zack only wanted me to carry him and he's getting to be a heavy little guy! Makes me wish I would have brought our carrying backpack. Oh well it's hindsight. We also visited with my grandpa and went out for pizza which ended up being the WORST pizza I've ever had. If your every in Cardston, Alberta DO NOT go to the Grotto for pizza... nasty!

Friday we got to camp for the reunion about 5 o'clock. It's such a funny place, because the part that we were in was FLAT. Then out of no where it drops down into a small gully and there is trees, camping and a lake. It was very random. But it was a great place to camp; minus the misquitoes! I.hate.misquitoes! Friday we spent getting things in camp set up. Had dinner on our own. Then hung out with the familys that were camping overnight. (there were a few people who just went home each night due to the closeness of the city and the campsite. Which I thought sucked!)

Saturday was really the only full day of visiting with the family. We ate breakfast which was provided by the reunion. Then we played some games. My aunt Charlyn and Andrea put together a Amazing race game for the family. It was a lot of fun and they did a great job! We had a bunch of stations that we had to go to and do different tasks such as balloon launching, sucking Jello through a straw, Pie eating, putting worms (spagetti) into a bottle, drinking an entire bottle of soda, untying knots, eating disgusting things, bean counting, feeding another pudding only using a spoon (no hands), filling up a bucket using sponges, and singing a song while eating crackers. It was a blast! We then went to a nearby lake where we swam and my uncle Reed gave rides to everyone on a his Jetskis and tubes. Then dinner and more hanging out. It was really a great day. The only downfall for the entire day was Zack was very clingy! He only wanted me to hold him and if I wasn't there and someone was trying to hold him or occupy him he CRIED. It got very frustrating and tiring. But I know it was mostly because he was in a new place with a lot of new people, Bob wasn't there and he was tired and hot! He may even be teething.

Sunday we had to pack up and head home. The reunion had reserved the campsite for an extra day because Monday was a holiday but we all had to get back to the states for our jobs. We wanted to drive through Glacier National Park but my brother had a flat/leak and we didn't think he'd make it very far. We ended up spending 3+ hours in Lethbridge trying to find a tire store to fix the tire. Only to have to wait 2 hours for Costco to fix it. They were the ONLY ones open! We didn't get back home until 3:00 am on Monday. I then had to go to work at 7:30. Ouch!

It was quite a trip. Next time Bob will be coming with me! I don't think I do very well traveling on my own. Of course I was with my family, but Zack didn't want anything to do with them!